Читать книгу Encyclopedia of Renewable Energy - James Speight G., James G. Speight - Страница 164

Bioenergy is renewable energy produced from organic matter – the conversion of the complex carbohydrates in organic matter to energy; organic matter may either be used directly as a fuel, processed into liquids and gasses, or be a residual of processing and conversion. Bioenergy (although not quite correct) is often used interchangeably with, biofuel and biomass. More typically, the term bioenergy refers to electricity and gas that is generated from biomass, which can be any form of plants and timber to agricultural and food waste – and even sewage. The term bioenergy also covers transport fuel (biofuel) produced from organic matter.

Biofuel is fuel derived from biological sources and biomass is the biological material used as a biofuel, as well as the social, economic, scientific, and technical fields associated with using biological sources for energy. In reality, bioenergy is the energy extracted from the biomass, as the biomass is the fuel and the bioenergy is the energy contained in the fuel.

The terms bioenergy and renewable energy are often (incorrectly used) interchangeably. However, bioenergy is specific and refers to energy produced from biological course (i.e., biomass). On the other hand, renewable energy is a more collective term that includes not only bioenergy but also nuclear energy, solar energy, tidal energy, and wind energy.

Bioenergy can offer renewable, low-carbon energy systems, sequestering atmospheric carbon as well as offer numerous environmental and socioeconomic benefits and therefore supporting global climate change targets and wider environmental, social, economic, and sustainable targets.

In addition, it is important to consider various sustainable aspects of bioenergy systems beyond carbon. Ensuring that bioenergy offers the required holistic emission reduction, context, specific and long-term approaches are necessary to understand synergies and the tradeoff of the bioenergy and related agricultural and forestry systems.

See also: Biofuel, Biomass, Nuclear Energy, Solar Energy, Tidal Energy, Wind Energy.